OUTDOOR NOTES : Soggy Economy Puts Boating on the Rocks

The boating industry is sinking ever deeper.

Such is the scenario described by the National Marine Manufacturers Assn., which announced a decline in boat sales and related services for the third consecutive year.

And given the latest figures, it seems the industry has hit bottom.

The manufacturers association estimates that new boat sales declined 18% in 1991 and that dollar sales of new boats suffered a 23% drop.

A similar decline was experienced in the sales of boating products and services. The recession is getting most of the blame.

“Three years of declining sales has severely tested the boating industry,” NMMA President Jeff W. Napier said in a news release, “and we remain in a survival mode.”

Napier, citing several factors, among them low installment interest rates and a “pent-up demand for new products,” is optimistic that smoother seas are on the horizon.

Compounding the woes of the marine industry are federal taxes imposed late last summer on boat buyers and boat owners.

The so-called luxury tax, on the first sale of boats costing $100,000 or more, and an annual user fee of $25 to $100 a month, depending on boat length, are said to be helping to “cripple” the industry, and the movement to have the laws repealed is slowly gaining support.

Legislation to repeal the federal excise tax was among issues that received Congressional attention in the final hours of the 1991 session but failed to gain passage before adjournment.

Several state senators have expressed support of a repeal, “but no one is giving us any action,” said Harry Monahan of the Southern California Marine Assn. “It’s like watching a snail walk.”

Spearfish beware: Deborah Maddux is on the hunt.

Maddux, a legal secretary, has quickly taken to her new hobby of sportfishing, becoming the only person to hold, simultaneously, world records for eight of the nine billfish species.

According to the International Game Fish Assn., Maddux’s recent capture of a 303-pound Pacific blue marlin, after five hours, on 12-pound test line, gave her records for every species of billfish other than spearfish.

The Houston resident, who has been fishing for about five years, has 15 records, “more than any angler in history has held for billfish,” the IGFA said.

Add world records: Newly approved all-tackle records of note for Southland anglers:

--Robert Welker’s 79-pound 4-ounce yellowtail, caught off Baja California’s Alijos Rocks last July (also a record in the 80-pound line category).

--Larry Skiles’ 13-pound 4-ounce kelp (calico) bass, taken off Laguna Beach, also last July.

Briefly

SALTWATER--Locally, fishing has been slow because of poor weather. The island boats have, for the most part, been unable to get across the channel in search of exotics. The best action has been around the kelp beds from Santa Barbara south, where calico bass have been feeding heartily. Some white sea bass have been reported in close off the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Cabo San Lucas: Marlin fishing has slowed, with boats averaging less than two a day, but dorado, tuna and wahoo have been helping to alleviate boredom on the open sea. Victor’s pangas out of San Jose reports a “red hot” yellowfin tuna bite, with fishermen averaging between 12-16 fish a day. Light rain and strong winds have been reported throughout the area. Bait supply is rated excellent.

Mazatlan: Sailfish, tuna and dorado fairly plentiful. Striped marlin incidental. Top fish a 205-pound striper caught by Canada’s Lina Noxon.

CONSERVATION--One of several 1992 wildlife projects is scheduled for Jan. 18 in the Whipple Mountains near Lake Havasu. The fence-building project is designed to keep burros from a water source necessary for the survival of bighorn sheep, deer and “other native critters,” according to the Department of Fish and Game. Volunteers are needed and should call Dick Conti at (310) 256-0463 for details.

MISCELLANY--California Boating and Waterways Commission action: The approval of a $5.5-million loan to Orange County for renovation of the marina at Sunset Aquatic Park--the project will reportedly provide 65 additional slips and improve parking; a $2-million loan to Oceanside Harbor District for modifications to the notoriously dangerous Oceanside Harbor entrance; a $414,000 grant to the U.S. Forest Service for improvements to the boat-launching facility at Gull Lake in Mono County.

INSTRUCTION--Fly-rod construction, Tuesdays beginning next Tuesday at East Fork Fly Fishing in Irvine--cost is $50. . . . Free clinic on cross-country skiing next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Adventure 16’s West Los Angeles store and on Jan. 21 at its Tarzana Store. . . . Lingcod school on Jan. 25 aboard the Sea Hunt out of Ventura Sportfishing. Instructors are Dan Dunlap and Kit McNear. Details: (818) 762-5873.